Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species

An ecopsychology that integrates our totemic selves--our kinship with a more than human world--with our technological selves.

We need nature for our physical and psychological well-being. Our actions reflect this when we turn to beloved pets for companionship, vacation in spots of natural splendor, or spend hours working in the garden. Yet we are also a technological species and have been since we fashioned tools out of stone. Thus one of this century's central challenges is to embrace our kinship with a more-than-human world--"our totemic self"--and integrate that kinship with our scientific culture and technological selves.

This book takes on that challenge and proposes a reenvisioned ecopsychology. Contributors consider such topics as the innate tendency for people to bond with local place; a meaningful nature language; the epidemiological evidence for the health benefits of nature interaction; the theory and practice of ecotherapy; Gaia theory; ecovillages; the neuroscience of perceiving natural beauty; and sacred geography. Taken together, the essays offer a vision for human flourishing and for a more grounded and realistic environmental psychology.

Author: Peter H. Kahn
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 07/20/2012
Pages: 360
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9780262517782
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2013

About the Author
Peter H. Kahn, Jr., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, author of Technological Nature (MIT Press), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Ecopsychology. He is coauthor (Patricial H. Hasbach) of The Rediscovery of the Wild (MIT Press).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).

Andrew Fisher has worked in the anti-hunger field for twenty-five years, as the executive director of national and local food groups, and as a researcher, organizer, policy advocate, and coalition builder. He has led successful efforts to gain passage of multiple pieces of federal food and nutrition legislation.

Peter H. Kahn, Jr., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, author of Technological Nature (MIT Press), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Ecopsychology. He is coauthor (Patricial H. Hasbach) of The Rediscovery of the Wild (MIT Press).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).

Lynn Margulis (1938-2011) was Distinguished Professor of Botany at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. An evolutionary theorist and biologist, science author, and educator, Margulis was the modern originator of the symbiotic theory of cell evolution. Once considered heresy, her ideas are now part of the microbiological revolution.

Peter H. Kahn, Jr., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, author of Technological Nature (MIT Press), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Ecopsychology. He is coauthor (Patricial H. Hasbach) of The Rediscovery of the Wild (MIT Press).

Patricia H. Hasbach is a licensed clinical psychotherapist in private practice in Eugene, Oregon, and a faculty member in the Department of Counseling Psychology at Lewis & Clark College, where she is codirector of the Ecopsychology Certificate Program. Hasbach and Peter H. Kahn, Jr., are coeditors of Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species (MIT Press, 2012).